Speaker Boehner: Failing To Raise Debt Ceiling Is Not Even A Question On The Table

Speaker of the House John Boehner appeared on Fox News Sunday and Chris Wallace grilled him on the seriousness of threats to shut down the government or to not raise the debt ceiling. Perhaps scared of “playing with fire,” Boehner agreed defaulting on the country’s debt would mean a financial disaster and claimed “I don’t think it’s a question that’s even on the table.”

Boehner also expressed no concern over his ability to deal with the emerging Tea Party caucus in the House and vowed not to curtail their attempts to pursue even more drastic spending cuts than what Republicans have already proposed. “My job is not to do what’s been done in the past and that’s to dictate what members will get to vote on,” and instead he plans to support the spending cuts that get the most support in the House.

Also he looked forward to working with President Obama, who understands that entitlement reform is necessary, unlike Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who Boehner criticized for claiming there was no problem with Social Security. Although he expressed some disappointment for not having received any outreach from Obama, Boehner understood “he’s been busy with a lot of things” and is willing to play golf with him in the future.

Watch the clip from Fox News below:

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